THE WRITING OF `ROSEVILLE FAIR'

Although "Roseville Fair" has been associated with the Minneapolis suburb of Roseville because of the Garrison Keillor connection, the name simply came to songwriter Bill Staines while he was writing the song in 1977.

"I was in Minneapolis but the song evolved in many ways," he says.

"It finally became two people at a fair. I was looking for mom and apple pie, and Roseville came into my mind.

"Little did I know how many Rosevilles there were."

In the song, two older people recall the beginning of their courtship at a country dance.

The years flew by, not much time's life us.

Your face is lined, and your hair is grayed.

But I'll tell you again, how much I love you.

In simple words, in the same old way.

And here's a song for all the young lovers,

And here's a tune that they can share.

May they dance all night to the fiddle and the banjo.

The way we did at the Roseville Fair.